Fireflies
by Fifi McFu
Summary: Sasuke had never been one to dwell over dreams, but when he has a vision of Naruto that he just can't ignore, he leaves Madara's lair in search of the blond. Yaoi, SasuNaruSasu, lime. ONESHOT


_I heard the song 'Fireflies' by Owl City the other day and was immediately inspired to write this short oneshot. I am still working on my two current requests, both of which should be done by the end of April at the latest! If you want to make a request, visit my profile page for more details._

_**Warnings: **shonen-ai, yaoi, SasuNaruSasu, lime, MANGA SPOILERS. Rated M for safety._

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters mentioned in this work of fiction. This is merely an explosion of mind-smut that uses Kishimoto's character as the medium.  
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**Fireflies**

_You would not believe your eyes  
If ten million fireflies  
Lit up the world as I fell asleep._

Sasuke had never been one for paying attention to his dreams, if he ever had them at all. He had somehow managed to suppress most of them, because after all, when you're plagued with nothing but nightmares your brain is eventually going to do something about them.

But occasionally, a dream would slip through his proverbial dream catcher, and not always a nightmare. Sometimes, they were memories. Team Seven, Konoha, his friends, his enemies... Naruto. And sometimes they were very surreal and cryptic, and he would wake up wondering what the hell he had been smoking for his subconscious to come up with such crazy shit.

But he never paid any mind to them. They were dreams. He didn't care if they were supposed to be subliminal messages from the deeper depths of his mind, the parts he had long buried under his rage and thirst for revenge. Unless they suddenly started giving him hints on the best way to take out the whole of the Hidden Leaf Village, they would just be ignored.

So you can understand that he would be extremely confused to find himself _pondering_ over his latest hallucination.

It was one about Naruto, as so many were. Regardless of how much he outwardly hated the blond idiot, Naruto had been his best friend once upon a time, the person that pushed him to become better and stronger. Naruto was an extremely important person to him. Even now, he acted as a benchmark to Sasuke. During their last encounter, Naruto had laid down his intentions to protect the village as an unspoken challenge.

_Come and get me_, he had silently said. Their old rivalry was still intact, and Naruto was using that to his advantage. It was probably part of some plan to keep anyone else from getting involved in the fight. Because that was Naruto for you, always trying to protect people. Whereas Sasuke needed to hate. When he had realised he could not hate Itachi, he had merely redirected his hate towards the village elders, and Konoha itself. Even though it went against Itachi's intentions.

In the dream, Naruto had been looking at the sky. Sasuke hadn't been able to look upwards and see what the blond was looking at, but he knew it was night time. Possibly Naruto had been star gazing. The boy had been sat in an old oak tree, his back leant up against the gnarled trunk with a strangely serene expression on his usually so animated face. His tanned fingers had been fingering a glint of blue crystal hanging around his neck.

It was such a simple dream. It had been that of an onlooker. Dream-Sasuke had merely sat, possibly hidden out of sight, watching Naruto stargaze, paying no heed to anything else in the environment. Possibly, because it was a dream, there was nothing else to the scenery anyway. Maybe, if he had been able to tear his eyes away from the peculiarly mesmerizing sight, he would have seen nothing but black, empty space to either side of the image.

It probably went into the 'cryptic' category of his dreams. And usually, those dreams were the most ignored, because they made no sense.

But when Sasuke's eyes had snapped open and taken in the cold, expressionless walls of Madara's hideout with his new, improved sharingan courtesy of one dead older brother, he had not been able to get rid of that image of Naruto, sat in the tree and staring at the sky with a sad, thoughtful expression on his ruddy features. It was as though it had been burned into his stolen irises like an effervescent afterimage.

Which was why he was currently jumping through the trees on the quickest route to Konoha, almost uncaring that there may be ANBU everywhere, his sharingan fully activated as he searched out that one particular tree.

He needed to get rid of the image, and the only way he could think to do it was to visit the tree and assure himself that Naruto was not there. Because obviously, it was a dream, not reality, so Naruto would not be there. He was probably busy training, or helping rebuild the village after Pain's attack. Or, possibly because it was the middle of the night, he was sleeping. That was always a possibility.

He knew the tree as well. He had sat in it a few times himself. He knew that it bordered a wide clearing about three kilometres outside Konoha, and when you climbed to the top of it, you could see almost all the way to the sea. It was a great place for contemplation.

_Maybe_, he mused as he tree-hopped with practised ease, _my mind put Naruto there because I know he's thinking about me._

It wasn't an arrogant thought. It was fact. Naruto had done nothing but chase him since he had left the village, it only made sense to assume that Naruto was thinking about him. Sometimes, Sasuke suspected Naruto was acting on more than the instincts of friendship. Nobody, not even someone who hadn't had any real bonds growing up, could be so _obsessed_ with one person without having incredibly strong feelings for them. He had seen the way Naruto's eyes used to secretly appraise him when they used to go on missions together.

He was fairly sure that Naruto liked him, in _that_ way.

And maybe, if Sasuke wasn't totally bent on his role as an avenger, he could have accepted that the feelings weren't totally unrequited. Naruto was a good-looking boy after all. And he was kind, and funny. A total idiot, but a charismatic one that could befriend almost anybody and change the heart of most villains.

He was nearing the clearing, and the tree. He could smell the buttercups that littered the field like shreds of sunlight. He scanned between the trees, seeking out the clearing. So that he could find the tree. See that Naruto wasn't in it. Calm his mind. And go back to Madara.

He caught sight of the twisted roots half-protruding from the ground, saw the gnarled trunk that had always reminded him of Grandmother Willow from the Pocahontas story, and changed his trajectory so that he was heading towards it. He could see, even from here, that Naruto was not sat on the branch like he had been in Sasuke's dream. But he wanted to make sure, for whatever unknown reason.

He leapt higher, up into the canopy of oak leaves and acorns that covered this area of the forest. He didn't stir a single piece of foliage as he moved, the wind barely changing its circulation as he cut through the air like a silent knife.

He gathered chakra in his feet and ran up the face of a tree about a hundred metres to the left of The Tree. Using skills he had acquired through hard training with none other than Naruto, in the wave country at the beginning of their journey to friendship. And like he had done so with Naruto all those years ago, when they had finally climbed the trees, he perched on the top most branch in the moonlight, a dark raven, and looked over at The Tree.

And as fate would have it, there was the blond idiot, mirroring his position in a way that was so reminiscent of their tree-climbing training that Sasuke had to wonder if he was dreaming again.

Naruto was looking at the sky. Like in Sasuke's dream. And when Sasuke realised that Naruto hadn't noticed him yet, he took the chance to see what was so damn fascinating.

His breath caught and his sharingan fluttered into black onyx orbs as he was caught completely by surprise.

Hovering over the trees and clearing, like millions of transient stars, were fireflies. _Thousands_ of them. There were so many that it could almost have been mistaken for daytime in the clearing. Even without his sharingan activated, Sasuke could see every blade of grass and every buttercup as if the midday sun was shining down on them.

The air was slightly damp, humid from the tropical summer warmth. It was almost like the fireflies were crying.

It was the most surreal experience of Sasuke's life, and all he could do was stare at the sight. The sparse clouds in the sky appeared to slow in their course, as though the Earth was rotating at half-speed. The long grass swayed like seaweed in a minute current on the sea bed.

He and Naruto stared skywards for a very long time. Whether Naruto knew he was there the entire time or not, Sasuke was not sure. But the blond did not seem surprised when he finally tore his eyes away from the celestial sight and caught sight of Sasuke perched a hundred metres away. He didn't immediately call up shadow clones and begin to power up for a rasengan. His expression didn't even change from that of contemplation. In fact, all he did was nod at Sasuke and then turn back to the skies.

When it became clear that neither of them were going to attack each other any time soon, Sasuke decided to ease the growing numbness in his ankles and settled himself into a more comfortable position on the topmost branch of his tree. His eyes followed the paths of various lightning bugs, the afterimages of their light seeming like paths of pixie dust. He watched as they drifted close to him and pulsed around him like a living blanket of Christmas lights. One was even brave enough to come down and land on his outstretched finger. He let a small, transfixed smile curve the corners of his lips as he watched it explore the ridges of his fingerprint, his skin illuminated a warm yellow by the insect.

Occasionally, he glanced up at Naruto. He had also gotten more comfortable, and whether because of his bright hair or because he just exuded a friendlier aura, he had a greater blanket of fireflies around him, almost as if the bugs were trying to hug him. His trademark grin was in place, getting slowly wider and wider as he let the fireflies embrace him.

Sasuke didn't think he had felt so at ease since he and Naruto had climbed trees in the wave country as rivals. Years of anger and tension bled out of his skin like released toxins and the fireflies swallowed them up and dissolved them, leaving only incredulous amazement in their place.

It must have been quite a strange sight. Two boys, supposedly arch-rivals and bitter enemies, sat in the trees with tens of thousands of little pricks of light surrounding them. Their expressions calm, almost _happy_. Nobody would have believed it if they had seen it, and Sasuke was probably the least believing of them all. The rational part of his was trying to explain all of it as a dream, but that part was slowly getting swallowed up in the relaxing atmosphere that was permeating Sasuke's blood vessels.

They probably sat there for a few hours, just mesmerized. The spell didn't break until Naruto gently brushed off the bugs still clinging to his hair and skin and stood up, looking over at Sasuke meaningfully.

_We have to fight now_, Sasuke realised. He shooed off the few brave bugs that were settled in his white shirt, and rose to his feet. Naruto nodded and leapt forward, into the wide open clearing, and Sasuke followed, activating his sharingan as he did so.

They ran through the grass that came up to their waists, arms trailing behind them for speed, eyeing each other across the distance. Neither made any move to perform a jutsu. The wind whipped through their hair and the fireflies danced above them like a strange, sentient chandelier. Naruto suddenly changed his angle so that he was running towards Sasuke, and the Uchiha mirrored him. The only sound as they neared each other was the rustling of the grass as they ran through it, and the hum of the fireflies.

They reached each other with a clash of sword versus kunai, their eyes locked as they had a brief struggle for strength before jumping away to look for a different opening. Sasuke ducked low and made a swipe for Naruto's feet, which the blond easily avoided by jumping, and Sasuke barely had time to block as Naruto threw several shuriken at him. Their legs moved next, blocking each other's kicks as they met at the shins, and Sasuke quickly followed through with a punch aimed at Naruto's midsection. Naruto caught the fist and twisted, throwing Sasuke off balance, and then his foot swiped out and knocked Sasuke onto his back.

Sasuke blinked as the air was forced out of his with a quiet whoosh. He hadn't thought Naruto was actually trying. The lack of jutsus on both parts had led him to think that this was some sort of obligatory sparring session, fighting because they were obliged to as enemies, before they retreated back to their respective bases. So for Naruto to actually try had caught Sasuke off guard. He stared as Naruto quickly sat down on his stomach and pinned his wrists into the scratchy grass, a tentative grin on the tanned face.

"You can do better than that, Sasuke," Naruto laughed, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"If I felt like it, I could have killed you a thousand times over already, Uzumaki," he spat. Both boys caught the lack of malice behind the statement.

"I know," Naruto acknowledged, still keeping Sasuke pinned. His startling blue eyes locked with Sasuke's onyx ones. "Why are you here?"

Sasuke turned his head to the side, avoiding the questioning gaze. There was _no way_ he was going to tell Naruto that he had dreamed about him. But then, he couldn't really think of any viable excuse for why he would be so close to Konoha and not immediately try to attack Naruto. So he chose to just not answer, staring at a ladybug that was perched on a blade of grass near his face. He counted the spots whilst Naruto hovered over him expectantly.

When it became clear that Sasuke was not going to answer his question, Naruto sighed and glanced up at the sky where the fireflies were still humming and drifting.

"I come here most nights, you know," he murmured. Sasuke looked at him out of the corner of his eyes for a moment, to show he was listening, and then looked back at the ladybug. "The fireflies are always out at this time of year, but I have never seen so many before."

Sasuke didn't say anything. The statement did not warrant a response. Naruto stared upwards for a little longer before looking down at Sasuke.

"I had a dream about you, you know. I couldn't sleep afterwards so I came here. You were sat in the tree, staring at the sky."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he turned to look at Naruto. They had had the same dream? Naruto read his gaze and his eyes grew slightly wider too.

"You had the same dream?"

"Yeah," Sasuke muttered, frowning.

"Hmm, that figures," Naruto said. He manoeuvred Sasuke's wrists into one tanned hand so that he could scratch his nose. "I've kind of felt this weird connection ever since then."

Sasuke didn't have to ask what _then_ was. He knew perfectly well what Naruto was talking about. The moment their trademark jutsus had connected, just after he had killed Danzo. The moment that he had realised how much Naruto had grown, how strong he was. In that moment, they had had a brief moment where they could read each other's thoughts. Something that elite ninja were said to experience when they crossed paths and hit each other with everything they had.

And Sasuke understood what Naruto meant about a 'weird connection' as well. He had felt it too. It was almost visible, like a thread stretched between them. It was comparable to the red string of fate, though Sasuke didn't really believe in such bullcrap. But there was definitely something there, and whilst he had ignored it up until this point, now that they were this close it was thrumming and throbbing as though little vibrations were coursing along it.

Their gazes locked again, and Naruto sighed.

"Why did it have to end up like this? We could have been friends."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Don't start that shit. You know my reasons for leaving, and I don't need to explain my motives to destroy Konoha to an enemy."

Naruto flinched at the use of the word 'enemy'. "I know, but I don't understand," he said, looking back up at the fireflies. "You were my first real bond, Sasuke. My first friend. I mean, I used to hang out with Kiba and Shikamaru and Chouji, but we weren't friends really. You were the first person who understood my situation and didn't treat me like shit because of Konoha's stupid prejudice about the Kyuubi."

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware of Naruto's weight and warmth on his stomach.

"You called me an idiot and a dropout, but after a while they just seemed more like pet names than anything," Naruto chuckled. "And you of course were always a bastard, but that was just my nickname for you as well."

Sasuke flexed his fingers, trying not to listen. Naruto was hitting to close to his heart as he spoke. He was unearthing the feelings buried under all of Sasuke's hatred. And it was dangerous territory.

"You know, when you left, I felt like a hole had been ripped through my chest," Naruto said with a sigh. A firefly had descended a little lower and was circling him as though stuck in an orbit around his blond head. He followed it with his eyes whenever it flew past his face, his irises shining with dampened amusement.

"It hurt even more than when Pervy Sage died, you know. And I spent a lot more time with him than I did with you. But even though his death hurt, your leaving hurt more.

"But just seeing you now, it's enough. Speaking to you like this, without trying to kill each other for once, it's enough. Even if tomorrow we go back to being sworn enemies. Even if tomorrow you come and try to annihilate our village, it'll be enough that I have been able to talk to you without us fighting each other."

A silence descended upon them along with a few more fireflies. Sasuke watched as one landed on Naruto's nose, and felt something twinge in his chest when the blond laughed at it, his eyes crossed to try and see it.

"I feel the same," he said after a few minutes. Naruto stopped laughing immediately. His face snapped down to look at Sasuke and the firefly, startled, flew away with an indignant buzz. Sasuke read the question in Naruto's eyes.

"I feel the same, about everything," he elaborated at the unspoken question. "I understand how you feel, Naruto. And I feel the same way."

Naruto swallowed. "Even...?"

Sasuke just stared up at him, as if daring him to finish the sentence. Naruto stared back, his eyebrows furrowed in an inner turmoil that made Sasuke feel a little guilty for having caused it.

"Even this?" Naruto finally finished, and then he leaned down and kissed Sasuke. It was the most gentle gesture, soft and warm and chaste, and it was over almost as quickly as it had begun. Naruto pulled away just a little, so that his lips were hovering over Sasuke's. Their eyes were locked. Sasuke blinked once, and his eyelashes ghosted over Naruto's tanned cheeks.

In reply, Sasuke leaned up a little, and reconnected their lips.

That was all it took. Naruto took a sharp intake of breath through his nose and then Sasuke grunted as the blond forced his head into the earth beneath him, their lips pressed forcefully together as a sudden flood of repressed emotions broke the dam in Naruto's mind, crashing forward and pouring into his lips. Sasuke received all of it in one blast and before he could stop himself, he groaned with the intensity of it all. That thread between them was thrumming so loudly that it was giving him a headache, and he realised that the vibrations along it were something akin to their thoughts and feelings as Naruto gave a choked gasp of need and forced Sasuke's lips open with his tongue.

They fought angrily in their mouths for dominance. Though Naruto had the advantage of pinning Sasuke down, Sasuke's sheer will and determination would not let Naruto win this battle, nor any other. Their tongues twirled and thrust, tasting the insides of each other's mouths and feeling the ridges of an unfamiliar set of teeth. Sasuke discovered that Naruto's teeth weren't quite as straight and uniform as his. They were a little smaller and more spaced out, and one of them was angled a little differently to the others. But it was Naruto, and Naruto was far from perfect, and that was what Sasuke liked about him.

They broke apart without either having won the battle, breathing hard. Sasuke was well aware of the heat in his cheeks and how prominent his flush must be on his pale skin. Naruto's tan hid his blush well, though his eyes could not conceal the lust that was present. The blond's hands were a little sweaty as they pressed Sasuke's wrists into the ground, and the fingers were clenched around Sasuke's arms tightly enough to make the Uchiha wince.

"How long?" Naruto asked quietly, licking and nipping at Sasuke's swollen lips gently, in a slightly animalistic way that reflected the beast within him.

"Since the Valley of the End," Sasuke replied in a breathless whisper, his tongue sliding out to draw Naruto's into his mouth. Their lips realigned as they merged back into the fight for power, and this time Sasuke arched against Naruto desperately, seeking more warmth, more contact. He couldn't believe this was happening. That this was Naruto above him, kissing him and, he realised suddenly, grinding his hips against him. He noticed with a needy moan that Naruto was just as aroused as he was by the situation.

The kissing was messy and unsure at first. Neither of them had really had the time for relationships and so this was all kind of new to them. But it gradually grew more confident and self-assured, and soon Sasuke (being the quicker to pick new skills up) was thrusting his tongue forcefully into Naruto's mouth and biting teasingly at the blond's lips, taking control of the situation and of Naruto. He felt the blond's hold on him weaken and with a smothered smirk, he flipped them, landing between Naruto's legs and immediately beginning to grind their swollen erections together.

"Ah! Sasuke!" Naruto whimpered, his arms coming to encircle the Uchiha's strong neck. Sasuke panted hotly and began to pepper kisses along Naruto's jaw line, occasionally adding his teeth to the mix and relishing in the sounds it extricated from Naruto as they continued to rut helplessly against each other.

"Naruto..." Sasuke groaned heatedly against the Kyuubi container's neck, nipping and biting before sucking hard enough to make Naruto cry out in surprise. He pulled back to find a bruise beginning and grinned, glad that he had left his mark, and began to tongue the hurt. Naruto clutched him frantically, his moans getting louder and more unadulterated as the pressure in their crotches grew. Sasuke snuck a hand between their bodies and fumbled with their pants.

Naruto let out a trembling sigh when Sasuke released his stiffened cock, and then hissed when he felt Sasuke's own erection press against it. Sasuke's long, graceful fingers wrapped around both lengths, pressing them together, and he began to pump in time with their jerky thrusts.

"Oh _god_..." Naruto groaned, his head falling back to rest on the grass. Sasuke grunted and buried his face in Naruto's shoulder, and Naruto could feel the Uchiha's hot breaths on his throbbing neck as Sasuke brought them closer and closer to completion.

It felt so surreal but so perfect, being here with Naruto, grinding against each other and escalating towards a mutual orgasm whilst they kissed and nuzzled each other. The thread between them continued to throb and pulse like their arousals, as if their minds were also striving for an orgasm.

"Naruto... oh god..." Sasuke gasped. He was close, really close, and one look at Naruto's nearly pained expression told him Naruto was too. Sasuke closed his eyes and pressed their lips together, giving a few last jerking pumps on their dicks before they cried into each other's mouths and came messily into Sasuke's hand.

Naruto collapsed bonelessly into the earth and Sasuke was hard pressed not to follow. He sat back on his haunches, breathing heavily and staring down at Naruto as the blond stared back. Sasuke wiped his dripping hand in the grass, and awkwardly, they tucked themselves back into their pants.

The fireflies were still floating above them like flames without candles.

The thread between them had surpassed vibration, and was now completely still, though it remained extremely noticeable to the two of them.

After a while of staring at each other, Naruto sat up. The sky was beginning to lighten, and they both knew that as soon as the sun broke the horizon and the fireflies dispersed, they would be enemies again. Evidently realising this, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shirt and pulled him close, kissing him deeply and pouring the last of his emotional strength through the connection of their lips and minds.

"So when we next see each other..." he murmured as they broke apart.

"It'll be to fight," Sasuke finished. He stood up and brushed his clothes off, scowling at the grass stains on his knees. Naruto stood too, sighing sadly.

"You could just come back," he suggested.

Sasuke just glared at him, and that was enough to say that Naruto's words were futile. Naruto shrugged.

"I meant what I said before. It'll be a fight to the death," the blond said. The sky was a pale pink now, and the fireflies were winking out like stars.

"I know," Sasuke replied. A sliver of shimmering yellow crept over the horizon, and they both unconsciously slumped. They were enemies now. The time for kisses was long gone. They eyed each other warily, as if worried that they both wanted to fight right there and then.

"Fuck it," Sasuke muttered, and pulled Naruto in for one last taboo kiss. "I'm going to hell," he growled against Naruto's lips. Then his warmth left Naruto's mouth.

And just like that, Sasuke vanished with the fireflies.

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